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Innovation, Not Compromise

For over 40 years I experienced the best health care in the world at no direct cost to me. So did my family. I gave birth to two children, and had surgeries and yearly check-ups. My father was treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and my mother went through treatment for breast and then lung cancer and has survived both. My niece conquered childhood leukemia; she is married and expecting her first child this year. None of this took place in the United States. It was in Canada. Trust me, my taxes and cost of living were not beyond what I pay in Michigan. We didn't have any co-pays nor have to file for bankruptcy and we all had access to the same care.

Canada is one of those countries that President Obama alluded to in his speech today as paying less for health care but having healthier people that live longer than in America. He also exposed fear mongering by those who use the term "socialized medicine" to describe government-reformed health care. Socialized medicine is a huge misrepresentation of the care offered in other developed nations.

Obama agreed that doctors need to practice medicine and not supervise administration of health insurance and people like Laura who he identified in his speech need access to the best care. Canada can do it, so can the UK, France, Italy and Australia. Americans deserve no less. American innovation will do it better.

The President outlined ingenious solutions for some of the most grievous problems. His description of an exchange sounded complicated, though, and his compromise on allowing the inclusion of private plans by calling it "choice" concerns me. Continuing to include private insurers in the system will only ensure inequality and high costs. It also suggests that anything outside of a private plan will be inferior. I applaud the President's efforts, but compromising to appease big business is a sure-fire way to fall short of the goal of delivering the best and equal care to every American.